The present invention relates to automated dispensing equipment for filling an open container with a beverage.
It is common for carbonated beverages, such as soda and beer, to be supplied to a vendor in a sealed canister or keg which then is connected to a tap at the vendor's establishment. Pressurized gas, such as carbon dioxide, is injected into the beverage canister or keg to push the liquid beverage through an outlet tube to the tap where it is dispensed into cups, mugs and pitchers. Carbonated soda is also supplied to vendors as a concentrate, or syrup, which is mixed at the tap with carbonated water from another source at the vendor's establishment.
Regardless of which type of dispensing method is utilized, the carbonated beverage usually foams while being dispensed into the serving container. As a consequence, personnel operating the dispenser must fill the serving container until the level of foam reaches the brim and then wait for the foam to settle before adding additional beverage. In some instances several iterations of this process must occur before the container is filled with liquid to the proper serving level. "Topping off" necessitated by the foaming of the beverage prolongs the dispensing operation and impedes the ability to fully automate the dispensing of carbonated beverages.
Nevertheless many establishments have push buttons activated taps which automatically dispense measured quantities of beverage into different sized serving containers, such as glasses, mugs and pitchers. However, automated equipment only can partially fill the serving container and the user still must manually top-off the container after the foam from the automated step has settled in order to dispense the proper serving quantity.
Dispensing beverage from the canister or keg also is prone to a certain amount of shrinkage. For example, the amount of beverage which foams over the brim of the serving container during the dispensing operation is lost. In addition, quantities of the beverage may be dispensed into containers for which payment is not received, as occurs when the server hands out free drinks to friends. A significant percentage of the volume in the canister or keg may be lost due to shrinkage.
Automated dispensing is very useful in large volume carbonated beverage operations, such as at sports arenas and stadiums, where it is desirable to fill each container to the full serving level as fast as possible. Such large scale dispensing operations also must be performed with minimal shrinkage due to waste and pilferage. On common way of regulating beverage dispensing is to count the number of containers into which beverage is dispensed. This is commonly done by multiplying the number of used plastic sleeves in which the containers were supplied to a dispensing station by the number of containers in each sleeve. That container count should equal the number of servings of that size beverage tabulated by the cash register for that serving station. A significant discrepancy indicates waste or pilferage such as the refilling of previously used containers.